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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28801119">A Father's Bandaid</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/salin3solution/pseuds/salin3solution'>salin3solution</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blood and Violence, Brothers, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Graphic Description</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:34:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28801119</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/salin3solution/pseuds/salin3solution</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the stab from Philza didn't kill Wilbur?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. You're my son.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a few weeks since Philza had done his best to convince Wilbur not to blow up L’manberg.<br/>
It was unsuccessful.<br/>
Wilbur had begged Philza to kill him and shoved his own sword into Phil’s hand, and had begged him to just stab him.<br/>
And he did.</p><p>Philza had stabbed his own son right in the gut, and Will had immediately keeled over, laughing through his tears. He had such an adrenaline high the pain was near impossible for him to feel.<br/>
Wilbur had explained what Techno had, and what he was going to do, and Phil had dragged Wilbur away as he quietly laughed, which had faded to a soft sob, to silence.<br/>
Phil brought him to the small log cabin that he had been staying in for weeks prior.<br/>
“You’re so stupid.” Phil scoffed as he set him down on the cow skin couch in front of the fireplace. But Wilbur didn’t reply. He stayed quiet, his eyes closed. He wasn’t asleep, and he wasn’t dead. Just, Silent. Phil carefully pulled away the trench coat, and lifted Wilbur shirt, shaking his head and pulling a small bottle and bandages from his bag, pouring the liquid onto the wound, and Wilbur responded with a yelp, The pain finally hitting him. “Ow- Fuck-” He whined, staring at the bloody mess that resided on his stomach. “Stay still.” Phil muttered, pulling bandages from a roll with his teeth and ripping it off. “Now don’t move unless I tell you too or this is gonna hurt a lot more than it should.” He muttered, lifting Wilbur’s back with one arm. Wilbur whined again as Phil rested a small wad of cotton on the wound before wrapping the bandage around his waist to keep the cotton in place.<br/>
“It’s too tight-'' Wilbur whimpered, leaning to stick his thumb under the bandage, resulting in Phil hitting his hand. “Stop it.” He muttered, turning around to face the fireplace, pulling a yellow hoodie from the clothesline in front of it, letting it rest on his shoulder as he striked flint with iron against the pile of already charred wood til it sparked and slowly engulfed into flames and turning around, sighing and staring at Wilbur.<br/>
“How long have you been here..?” He asked quietly, stifling a heavy breath as he propped himself up with his elbows.<br/>
Phil passed the hoodie to Wilbur, shrugging. “About two weeks, maybe three.” He hummed softly as he stepped out  of Wilbur’s view to grab a few things before returning with a small iron pot, and a few vegetables and a small knife and a piece of wood.<br/>
Sitting in front of the fire, he hung the small metal pot from a hook above the fireplace. Placing down the piece of wood as well as placing down the potatoes with the carrots and began to cut them carefully. “Beef or chicken soup?” He asked, focusing on the vegetables. Wilbur seemed confused before coming too and realizing. “Oh uh, Chicken,” He glanced down at the hoodie on him, before laying back down and staring at the ceiling and resting his hands on his stomach with a small wince.<br/>
“When you feel better, You’re gonna shower.” Phil said after a while. “You’ve been in those clothes for how long..?” He shook his head, listening to the water bowl for a moment, and pouring the carrots and potato slices into the water, laying on the floor and closing his eyes. “Get some rest.” He said, slowly standing back up. “I’ll wake you when the soup is done.” Wilbur nodded, rolling over onto his side with a small yelp. “Don’t move too much-” He rolled his eyes, laying a wool blanket over Wilbur. “Now sleep.” Wilbur nodded, closing his eyes, and almost immediately falling asleep</p><p>Wilbur was awoken to the sound of wings gently beating the air outside, and Philza walking back inside, his wings carefully folding behind him as he entered the house. “You’re awake! I tried to wake you up when the soup was done,, But you just pushed me away.” He shrugged, pulling the satchel from his shoulder and setting it on the floor. “Niki gave me some extra clothes for you, And some other things for after you eat your soup.” He kicked it softly, before continuing<br/>
The fire had gone down some, and the pot of soup sat over it, steaming some.<br/>
Philza leaned over the fire, scooping the soup up with a wooden bowl and handing it to Wilbur. “Drink up, the noodles are home made.” He smiled, picking the bag up and pulling a bread loaf from it, breaking it in half and handing it to Wilbur. “Have you slept at all this week?” Phil asked, watching him for a moment before picking the bag up and walking towards the cobblestone table behind the couch. “Barely,” He mumbled. The soup was the first real thing he had eaten in a while, as he had been too stressed and wrapped up with his own need for his country back to even think about eating.<br/>
He stayed quiet for a moment, looking over his hands as he ate quietly, dipping the bread into the soup. “Phil,,” He asked, looking towards him. “Yes Wilbur?” Phil responded, glancing over at him while he cleaned up the small kitchen area. “..Am I a bad guy?”<br/>
Phil paused, looking for the right words as Wilbur rambled on. “I mean, At first I thought what I was doing was right. You know? I thought, I made this country, It’s mine. And, Nobody else should have it.” His hands shook slightly as he held the near empty bowl of lukewarm soup. Phil gently placed his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. You did what you think was right. And that’s all that matters right now.” It wasn’t easy for Phil to say this, It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth. Silence hung in the air a moment longer. “I need to change your bandages, So your wound doesn’t get infected.” Phil said suddenly, gesturing towards the bandages, and reaching towards the cobblestone table, pulling a few things from it.<br/>
“What was that stuff you poured on it that hurt so bad?-“<br/>
“Water with like, a little bit of alcohol? But mostly water.” Wilbur seemed confused and somewhat lost, blinking a few times, but didn’t say anything and just leaned against the side of the couch, laying practically flat, his feet hanging over the other side.<br/>
Philza gingerly undid the loosened bandages around Wilbur’s stomach, keeping pressure on where the large cotton pad sat. “Just don’t look, I don’t want you passing out.” He muttered. “Or throwing up.” He muttered, letting his hat fall to the side. “Don’t give me crap about the battle field, and arrow wounds. This is completely different.” He sighed, moving the cotton pad to the side and popping open a new bottle, and pouring it on a small cloth, wiping around the wound. Wilbur tensed up. “Fuck- That hurts-“ He clenched his teeth together, closing his eyes. “You’ll thank me when all that’s left is a little scar.” He muttered.<br/>
Once the new bandages had been set and wrapped, Phil stood up slowly, a knock at the door made both of them jump. “Philza? Philza it’s Tommy!” The voice called from behind the door. “With Tubbo! Dream said you’d be here.” The two froze. “One minute-“ Phil called, holding his finger up to his mouth to Wilbur, and gesturing for him to stand up slowly. Wilbur stumbled slightly, leaning on Philza. Sheep’s skin was pulled over at the windows like blinds, thank god, to keep Wilbur hidden.<br/>
“I wanna speak to them,” Wilbur whispered, glancing over his shoulder. “No, Now is not the time.” He kept his voice low, pushing the bedroom door open, continuing to keep his voice low as he flicked on the redstone lamp next to his bed. “Lay back down, Don’t come out until I tell you too, and don’t say anything.” He whispered, leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind himself.<br/>
Wilbur stared at the door, sitting upright for a moment before laying back down and staring at the ceiling as he  listened to the group in the other room. He listened for a moment before eventually disregarding the conversation. Mumbling softly, he  pulled the bandage off, keeping his hand over the cotton pad that sat over the wound, slowly standing up and starting towards the window and staring out at the snowy spruce forest that was before him. He just stared, thinking about how he had hurt everyone when he had hit the button, He leaned away from the window, picking his elbows up.<br/>
The world spun, he saw stars. He glanced down looking at his hand, which was more then covered in blood.<br/>
“Oh sh-” His voice trailed off as he fell over with a thud.<br/>
Philza had whipped around, one of his extended wings knocking something from the counter as he did. “What?” Tommy asked, but Philza was already racing to the room, shoving the door open. “Goddamnit-” He kept his wings open enough so not even Tommy could see past them into the room. Tommy crouched, pushing some of the weathered feathers from Phil’s wings aside.<br/>
The mess of the 6’5 man practically bleeding out on the floor would forever be engraved in Tommy’s brain.<br/>
Tommy always looked up to Wilbur, saw him as strong, and independent.<br/>
But he looked so helpless. So….. weak.<br/>
“W-Wilbur?” He asked quietly, his voice breaking off as he stared at the small pool of blood that slowly grew. “Tommy. Leave.” Phil said sternly, looking over his shoulder.<br/>
While Tubbo couldn’t see, He knew it couldn’t be good. “Tommy- Tommy we can come back later..!” He didn’t want Phil to get super angry, combined with Tommy’s tendency to yell and jump to conclusions quickly. Tommy pulled his arm away from Tubbo. “No,, No Wilbur is fuckin,, Dying-” His voice broke again, his eyes filling with tears and he tried to push down Philza’s wings.<br/>
Philza whipped around, his wings slamming against the doorframe. “Tommy, This is not the fucking time.” Phil had raised his voice a significant amount. “Leave.” He whipped back around, folding his wings back against his back, quickly moving towards Will and quickly pulling drawers open and feeling for a pulse, a small feeling of relief flushing over him as he grabbed a bottle and pulled the cork out with his teeth, slapping Wilbur’s cheek a bit.<br/>
Tommy stared at Wilbur and Philza as this happened. Everything hit him at once as Tubbo tugged his sleeve again, more urgent this time. Tommy stumbled back some, large tears rolling down his cheeks as he processed everything.<br/>
Tubbo stared at Wilbur and Philza, confused and scared honestly. “Is he gonna be alright?-“ He asked quietly, but Phil ignored him. Tommy shook his arm from Tubbo again, storming out of the cabin in a silent yet gross sob and slamming the door behind him, Causing both Phil and Tubbo to jump slightly.<br/>
Tubbo stood there a moment longer before racing after Tommy, and keeping the door open.<br/>
He found Tommy sitting in the snow, sniffling and wiping his nose on his shirt. Snow crunched softly under Tubbo’s shoes. “Tommy? Are you alright-“ He asked. Tommy had immediately sat upright, wiping his tears away and nodding. “No yeah i’m-“ His voice cracked slightly and he stood up and turned around, his nose red from the cold. “I’m okay,” His voice was shaky as he nodded. “Wilbur is gonna be okay! Don’t worry..! Dad will take care of Wilbur, When has he not?” Tubbo tried to be optimistic, but deep down he was just as scared as Tommy was. “It looks bad though, Not even your injury was that bad,, and you were dead for a few seconds.” He stammered, shivering a little as it slowly began to snow. Tubbo opened his mouth, but hesitated before speaking. “But Wilbur’s pretty strong yeah? Stronger than me, That’s for sure.” He laughed a little nervously, but Tommy continued. “But there was so much blood? I don’t think that’s.. safe.” Tommy paced around a little as it snowed harder, quickly wiping his eyes again with a sniffle. “But Phil is usually prepared- He’s probably got some potions, he has all the supplies! He showed us!” Tommy had slowly stopped pacing, nodding slowly. “You’re right, Yeah.” He glanced down, still sniffling some and staying quiet for a while.<br/>
“Tubbo?”<br/>
“Yeah Tommy?”<br/>
Tommy hesitated, tearing up once again. “Can I have a hug?”<br/>
Tubbo nodded, and didn’t hesitate to quickly hug Tommy, and the two just stood in the snow hugging each other.<br/>
Meanwhile, Phil had poured the liquid, which was a Health potion, into Wilbur’s mouth, And Wilbur had immediately opened his eyes with a loud wheezing cough, practically gasping for air. “There you go!” Phil let out a sigh of relief, picking up a near empty roll of bandages. “You can’t just.. take these off and get up.” He said sternly as Wilbur continued to cough into his hand  and gasp for air. Phil rewrapped the wound, gently patting his back. “Just lay here for a bit.” He said softly, standing up. “Just. Get rest. Don’t move.” He repeated as he left the room, He stared at the door that was left open, letting in a cool breeze and his wings carefully wrapping around himself as he stepped outside through the open door.<br/>
Tubbo noticed the grayish silver feathers that reflected the light like a mirror, and let go of Tommy, who immediately whipped around. “Why the fuck is Wilbur here?!” Tommy had immediately jumped to the argument, which is exactly what Tubbo was scared of. “Oh, Not even a ‘Hey dad, I haven’t seen you in a while!’ or ‘Dad! where have you been?’ Just straight on my ass about your dying brother?” The annoyance in Phil’s voice stung like hot coals as the two went back and forth. “Correction, my brother who should’ve fucking died in the explosion.” He spat, his face hot with anger. “Or better yet, my brother that YOU stabbed!”<br/>
Philza rolled his eyes, the feathers on his wings noticeably agitated and fluffed up to some degree. “He shoved the fucking sword in my hand and begged me to stab him Tommy.” He held his arms out and let them fall to his side. “He was begging me too.”<br/>
“And then you fucking ran off here with him!”<br/>
“Because he told me Techno had the withers! I didn’t want him to fucking bleed out while watching the cause of his problems get further destroyed.”<br/>
The two continued to yell at each other back and forth before they were interrupted by an arrow barely missing one of Phil’s already weathered feathers, causing both him and Tommy to look in the direction. “Speak of the devil.” Phil groaned as he looked up at Technoblade who was perched on the roof with a now unloaded crossbow, an axe neatly strapped to his back, alongside a small pocket knife hidden in a sheath against his leg. “What do you want Techno?” Tommy asked loudly, still visibly annoyed.<br/>
“Is there like a family reunion I didn’t know about?” He laughed softly as he carefully slid down the slick roof, minding his cape. “You tell me.” Phil mumbled, watching Techno glance around the house.<br/>
“Don’t go in,” Phil had said quickly, but it was too late, Techno was already stepping inside with snowy boots.<br/>
Philza hesitated to follow him inside but did so anyways.<br/>
Techno stayed silent, per usual, acknowledging the small trail of blood on the floor before noticing Wilbur in the bedroom.<br/>
Wilbur had his eyes closed and was rolled onto his side, and thought Phil had just come back into the room, but was rudely awoken to a sheer kick in the stomach, just above where his injury was.<br/>
Instinctively, he grabbed the assailant’s ankle, dragging him to the floor, which resulted in a loud thud, and a yell from Techno as he hit the floor.<br/>
Wilbur’s only response was a groan and a loud. “What the fuck-“ As he hugged his stomach and stared at Techno.<br/>
He had almost immediately jumped to action, his fight or flight and panic taking over as he quickly stole the knife from the sheath that sat close to his face, pathetically dragging himself closer and holding the knife against Techno’s neck, immediately yelling despite his face looking sickly and drained from all blood. “Who fucking sent you.” His voice was raised quite weakly, and he still seemed delirious from being half dead.<br/>
Phil had come in right when he heard the thud from Techno, staring at the two on the floor in disbelief.<br/>
“Wilbur, Wilbur put the knife down.” He started, carefully putting his hands up. “No- No you don’t understand Phil.” Wilbur said breathlessly, the edge of the knife barely away from the pig’s neck. “He’s fucking working with Dream.. and Eret.” He sounded, lost? It wasn’t the right word. It sounded as though he had been back when they first fought for their own independence. Before Schlatt.<br/>
“They’re gonna, blow it all up,,” He had trailed off before he could finish, exhaustion getting the best of him as he slumped into dead weight, his breathing noticeable, but shallow.<br/>
Techno carefully and quickly pulled the knife from Wilbur’s hand, pushing himself up as Phil carefully moved Wilbur away, allowing Techno to stand up. “What’s his deal?” He scoffed, dusting his cape off carefully.<br/>
Phil sighed softly. “He’s just out of it I guess.” He muttered, picking him up by his armpits and placing him on the bed carefully and throwing a blanket over the disheveled man. “He’s been out of it for a few days I’ve heard.” Techno muttered, staring at his now bloodied sock as he left the room. “I just hope he actually gets some sleep.” Phil could be heard from the other room as Techno closed the door to the outside world behind him, mumbling something softly before pulling his arrow out of the tree and looking it over.<br/>
Despite being absolutely pissed with Wilbur earlier, Tomy was still worried. “You didn’t hurt Will, did you?” He asked his older brother, glancing down at the blood on his ankle.<br/>
“Scared him a little, but Ehhhh, He’ll be fine.” The pig shrugged, shoving his arrow back with the rest.<br/>
“Not fucking funny Techno, Is he okay?” Tommy repeated quickly with his arms crossed.<br/>
“I gave him a little kick, That’s all, thought he was dead.”<br/>
“So you fucking kicked him?” He was quick to bark back a response, already worked up from earlier.<br/>
“Look Tommy, That’s the only acceptable answer here when he could’ve killed everyone else.” Techno had stated sarcastically as he leaned against the tree.<br/>
“And you didn’t summon two withers to take us out?” Tommy was making eye contact at this point. “Oh! My name’s Technoblade and I decide whose good and ba-“ He mocked, only to be interrupted by Tubbo shoved him over into the snow. “Would you shut up Tommy!? We’re finally all back together as a family and all you’ve done is pick arguments!” He yelled, his hands balled into fists.<br/>
Silence hung over the snow for a moment, both Techno and Tommy seemed shocked to say the least. Tubbo simply looked between the two before storming inside the house to warm himself up, but closed the door carefully behind himself.<br/>
Sitting in front of the dimly lit fireplace, he held his hands out silently, listening to the house.<br/>
What could be heard was the wind softly blowing outside, the small occasional crack or pop of the fire, and Phil humming in the other room.<br/>
Humming a lullaby he had all hummed to his sons when they were younger if they couldn’t sleep, or were upset. It was a nice bitter taste of nostalgia, and a solid reminder that they weren’t exactly back home where everything was carefree. It was the bitter and hard truth that was hard for everyone to adjust too, but it was also a good reminder and a wake to reality. </p><p>Hours had passed. Tubbo had fallen asleep on the floor in front of the couch, Techno and Tommy had left back for L’manburg without a word, and Phil had fallen asleep on the chair next to the bed where Wilbur was asleep.<br/>
Wilbur jolted awake in a cold sweat, but didn’t sit upright. His muscles ached all over and his throat was dry.<br/>
he laid motionless, staring at the ceiling in silence for a moment before turning his head slightly to see Philza softly snoring in the chair next to him, the redstone lamp still on. It took him a moment, but he had turned just enough to flick the small lever to turn the light off, and darkness consumed the room.<br/>
He shivered a little, pulling the soft wool blanket closer to himself. He closed his eyes in an attempt to force himself back asleep, but it didn’t really work. He stayed silent on the bed for a moment until the wood creaked as someone had slowly walked towards the bedroom, he tensed up slightly, but relaxed as he recognized the figure.<br/>
“Wilbur..?” Tubbo asked softly. “Are you awake?”<br/>
“Yeah,” He answered weakly. “Do you wanna sleep in here?” His voice was hoarse, but he put an effort into speaking loud enough. Tubbo nodded a bit, a small yawn could be heard, and he crawled onto the bed in the space next to Wilbur.<br/>
Wilbur had turned the blanket over onto Tubbo. “Did you have a nightmare?” He asked, but Tubbo was already dead asleep, his face buried in a pillow with his arms shielding his eyes. Wilbur smiled with a small, yet pained chuckle as he hugged his stomach.</p><p>Philza had woken up to the sun peeking through the window in the bedroom, it took him a moment to realize, but Tubbo and Wilbur were snoring softly in bed, Wilbur’s leg hanging off the bed with his forearms covering his stomach, and Tubbo curled up under the wool blanket. He smiled at the two, They always seemed to get along and rarely ever fought or argued, and if they did it was immediately resolved.<br/>
Slowly standing up, Philza stretched, minding his wings as he left the room quietly to make an early breakfast.<br/>
The silence that blanketed the house was a nice change from the other day.<br/>
He listened to the wolves outside howl in the distance as he made breakfast for the two boys.</p><p>As he threw bacon into the pan, the smells around him reminded him of their old life. Their calmer life and their safe life.<br/>
A time where they could have fun and relax. A time when the kids were younger.<br/>
He zoned out whilst he reminisced.<br/>
It was a summer morning at around six am. Philza had woken the boys up early for breakfast as well as to take them down to the nearby farm to get to know the horses.<br/>
Techno and Wilbur were laughing and playing in the yard, They were both about 13. Sparing with the wooden swords they had made the night before while being awake past their bedtime. Tommy and Tubbo who were both about 5 were barely awake on the couch, one of them more awake then the other. The only thing keeping them awake was the smell of the pancakes and coffee that filled the house.<br/>
“Surrender Technoblade! You are no match for me!” Wilbur stated dramatically, pointing his sword at his older brother with a proud grin. Phil had been working with them during the week days with training, blacksmithing and potion making.<br/>
Techno’s sword was resting a few feet away, barely within reach of his hand. He hesitated, quickly thinking. “Hey look at that fox!” He pointed towards nowhere really, which caught Wilbur off guard.<br/>
Techno lept to action, kicking Wilbur’s leg, and grabbing the sword from his hand as he stumbled back. “You surrender, Wilbur!” He smiled, a proud look on his face as he held the flimsy wooden sword up to Wilbur. Before the two burst into laughter.<br/>
“Boys!” Phil called from inside. “Get in here, Breakfast is ready.” Which immediately the two jumped upright, shoving each other  in a race to the back door.</p><p>The awakening of someone in the other room stirred Phil out of his thoughts. He looked down to see the bacon charred black. "Shit." He threw away the mess and started again.<br/>
Tubbo was the first to wake up to the familiar smell, holding the wool blanket close to himself, he sat up and yawned, rubbing his eyes as he stared around the room. He glanced at Wilbur who was still asleep, snoring softly. Tubbo stood up, slowly, still holding the blanket over his shoulders and leaving the room.<br/>
“Dad?” He asked quietly as he poked his head out the room before slowly leaving the room.<br/>
Phil glanced over his shoulder, but for the most part kept his focus on the food that he was cooking. “Good morning.” He smiled, his wings draped over his shoulders like some sort of cape. “Is Wilbur awake?” He asked, poking at the bacon with a fork.<br/>
Tubbo shook his head, starting towards the couch and slowly sliding onto it and hugging the blanket around himself with another yawn. “No, no he’s still asleep.” He responded quietly, glancing around the room. “What are you making?” He leaned forward some to get a better look at what Phil was making. “It smells good,” He smiled.<br/>
“Bacon and pancakes.” Phil responded quietly, He hadn’t woken up this early in a while, and was still somewhat tired from caring for Wilbur the day before. Tubbo nodded slowly, and stayed silent, before speaking up. “Wilbur’s gonna be okay, right?” He asked suddenly, looking up from the floor. Phil nodded, though it seemed unsure and slow with his response. “Yeah, He’ll be okay.” He kept his focus on the food in front of him, gently moving the pan away from the fire and setting it on a small stone slab. “He  just needs time to recover, and rest up. That’s all.” He added something softly under his breath, but before Tubbo could question it, Phil was already onto the next topic. “There should be some plates on the table behind you, with some silverware.” He cleared his throat, turning around slightly. “Can you hand those to me?” Tubbo glanced over his shoulder, before turning around and grabbing two plates and handing them to Phil, who placed two pancakes and a few bacon slices on one of the plates and handed it back to Tubbo with a fork and knife.<br/>
After a few minutes in the other room, Wilbur had sat upright quickly in a cold sweat. He quickly looked next to him, expecting to be relieved by seeing Tubbo next to him. But he wasn’t there.<br/>
He looked to where Phil had been laying the night before, to the empty chair, and panic had set in. He quickly stumbled out of the room like a drunken man, His hand over his injury. “Tubbo-“ Panic laced his voice as he looked around the room, only for relief and joy to change his expression as he noticed his younger brother, stumbling quickly towards him and nearly falling onto the couch as he quickly hugged him, and didn’t say anything. “You alright buddy?” Phil had asked soon after, staring at the two. Wilbur seemed to be reluctant as he let go of Tubbo. “Yeah- Yeah, just uh, had a bad dream. That’s all.” He smiled a little looking towards Phil. “I’ll- I’ll go lay back down.” He nodded once again, waving Phil off before slowly standing back up with his hand over this stomach. “Do you want breakfast?” Phil asked while he watched Wilbur walk away, and Wilbur simply responded by shaking his head and muttering something softly as he walked into the bedroom again.<br/>
Tubbo shrugged it off and continued to eat. After the two had finished eating, they sat and caught up for a while.<br/>
A soft knock on the door interrupted them, Philza stood up slowly, starting towards the door and pulling it open, only to be interrupted once again by Tommy immediately speaking up. “Uh, L’manberg needs Tubbo.” He muttered. Phil nodded slowly, stepping aside and looking at Tubbo who was already standing up. “Presidential stuff, Yknow?” Tubbo laughed, starting towards the door, hesitating slightly before quickly hugging Phil quickly. Phil smiled with a small chuckle and gently patting his head. “Yeah, Now go!” He laughed. “Your country needs you.” He gently patted his back as Tubbo let go of the hug, and nodded with a smile. Tubbo waved as he trailed behind Tommy. Phil had gone to close the door, but overheard the two talking quite loudly. “You two better not be arguing.” He called from the door, met with a loud, “Sorry dad!” In response from Tommy before the door clicked shut.<br/>
Silence filled the house once more, the only true noise was the small crackle of the fireplace and Wilbur occasionally shifting in his sleep. “Finally.. A little break.” Phil smiled some, sighing and starting back towards the fireplace to clean up. He placed the dirtied dishes into a small bucket full of water and humming softly to himself as he did so.<br/>
Once he had finished cleaning up the small mess, as well as the blood on the floor from the day before, He left a small note on the couch, and it read ‘Heading to L’Manburg for a bit, i’ll be back before sunset, if i’m not i’m sure Tommy or Tubbo will be here -Phil, P.S there’s cookies in the bag next to the fireplace.’<br/>
About an hour after Phil had left, Wilbur had finally awoken for good. The silence seemed.. loud. Which was weird, Silence had no noise to it.<br/>
He slowly brought himself to his feet with a small wince. The explosion had really taken a toll on his body, as well as a lot of other things.<br/>
Slowly limping out of the bedroom, he nearly immediately noticed the note, carefully picking it up and reading it over once he reached the couch. “Ah-“ He narrowed his eyes, placing the note back on the couch before spotting the bag, and crouching down to pick it up, before sitting down and leaning against the wall.<br/>
Opening the bag, his face lit up to see chocolate chip, sugar and even peanut butter cookies. A genuine smile grew on his face for the first time in a while really as he bit into one of the cookies. It was just how he remembered them on the first night Niki’s bakery had been finished, Just warm enough so that the chocolate in the middle would almost always stay warm and make a huge mess each time you ate them. He was happy that her home as well as her bakery stayed untouched through it all, He had always enjoyed helping her bake and sneaking a few things from chests every now and then. He muttered softly to himself as he picked up the small piece of flint and the chunk of steel that rested on an uneven brick and slowly turned towards the fireplace, sitting in front of it and attempting to start a fire, jerking his hand back when a stray spark bit at his finger. “Ow-“ He stared at the small red mark on his finger, but felt the warmth from the fire that grew on the logs in front of him. He carefully brought his knees to his chest with a small wince. He sat with his chin between his knees for a moment,  taking a deep breath and genuinely relaxing for the first time in a while since they had been exiled from L’Manburg.<br/>
In Pogtopia he always felt like he had to be on his toes, and never keep his guard down or he’d get killed. In the end, he was right, but he didn’t almost die the way that he’d think.<br/>
In the end there was no one to blame except himself. He shoved the blade into Phil’s hand in his state of uncertainty and his mind really being gone.<br/>
But when the adrenaline had worn off after the stab while he was barely conscious, the pain was real and had practically brought him back to reality, and it was still so vivid in his mind.<br/>
It only felt like a small punch in the gut while Phil had brought him home, but once he had laid down, and the water mixture had hit the wound. It felt so much worse.<br/>
He hugged himself to shake his thoughts, distract his mind a little.<br/>
He hated how he became when Schlatt exiled him and Tommy. He had become power hungry, and longed for his unfinished ‘Symphony.’<br/>
“It isn’t a Symphony.” He mumbled to himself as he slowly stood back up. “It’s a cacophony.”<br/>
His hand sat on tightly wrapped bandages, and he gritted his teeth as the familiar sharp, but temporary, pain hit his stomach like an angry wasp. He held the arm of the couch to ground himself, shutting his eyes quickly to cope with the pain before taking a deep breath and starting towards the kitchen, rummaging around a little before finding a bar of soap and a small bowl. He shrugged, placing the bowl under his arm and slowly starting towards the door and heading outside.</p><p>It had been a while since he’d gone outside. The brightness from the fresh layer of beer untouched snow stung his eyes as he blinked to adjust to it. The cool air felt nice on his face. It was fresh and a nice change from being inside for almost two days.<br/>
Starting towards the back of the house where he saw a small stream earlier, he sat down next to the rushing water, The dirt gently coming off of his dirtied boots to reveal worn black leather that had seemed brown due to the caked dirt.<br/>
He made a face, but scooped the water into the bowl with his free hand, wetting the soap bar and running it through his hair.<br/>
When he poured the cold water over his head to rinse the soap from it, He almost jerked upright, the cold water streaming down his neck, forehead and face which took him by surprise with a small gasp.<br/>
“Cold cold cold-“ He said quickly as he shook his head. He hesitated with the next dump of water over his head.<br/>
He shook his now soaked hair once again before sitting upright and wiping the ice cold water from his forehead with the sleeve of his hoodie. Quickly standing up, he rushed back inside with a lazy limp holding the bowl and small bar of soap. He was greeted with the warmth that comfortably filled the house and the soft crackling from the fireplace. His wet hair dripped on the wood floor as he shut the door behind him and slowly started back to sit in front of the couch. He had done so little but was already drained from all energy and exhausted. He had done so much more as President of L’Manberg and barely broke a sweat, but now? He was finding it difficult to catch his breath. He stifled a small cough as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes only to fall back asleep. When he woke up again, He wasn’t sure how long it had been, But Phil was back now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Wilbur can finally relax.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is a bit shorter as i had little ideas but trust me :) next chapter is gonna be good and LONG</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Well, he thought he was. The snowy boot imprint in front of the door was a giveaway, as well as the blanket draped over his shoulders. His hair had dried by now and had returned to its softer, fluffier state. He reached his hand up to run it through his hair. Which, despite it being cleaned, it was still incredibly tangled. “How does Techno do it..” He muttered softly, remembering his brother's much longer hair that always seemed untangled, and in a neat braid.<br/>The silence hung over the house for a while, the only true noise was the sound of the wood settling. <br/>A few moments passed before Wilbur decided to get back up, his forearm hugging his stomach as he leaned over with a small, hurt sigh. He muttered something softly to himself before slowly limping towards the door, and pulling it open. Only to see Philza sitting on a log in front of a fireplace as the sky slowly faded to a gorgeous mess of oranges, yellows and purples. “You’re awake again,” Phil turned to look over at his son with a small, tired smile before turning back to face the sunset with a cup in his hands. <br/>Wilbur stared at him for a moment before stepping out into the snow, and sitting on the log next to him, slightly hunched over. The two stayed silent for a moment before Wilbur finally spoke up. “What is that?” He asked, gesturing to the cup. <br/>“Wine.”<br/>“Can I have a little bit?”<br/>“No.” <br/>“Why not?” <br/>“Because alcohol is a blood thinner Wil.” Philza laughed softly, shaking his head and taking another sip. “You’ll probably just bleed out again.” He joked, setting the cup down in the snow. “What about a tiny little sip, It can’t be that bad.” He smiled a little, leaning over. “No.” Phil rolled his eyes and shook his head.<br/>The sky grew darker as the two talked. “Wilbur, look.” Philza nudged Wilbur’s shoulder, before pointing towards the sky in the direction of L’manburg.<br/>Lanterns were slowly climbing in the sky, lighting the sky like fireflies in the summer evenings. <br/>“Remember when you taught me and Techno how to make lanterns?” Wilbur kept his voice low, despite there being no need to whisper or stay quiet at all. <br/>Phil nodded. “Tubbo brought it up, so when I went to visit I helped him make a few.”  Wilbur smiled. “Maybe if I go back, We can make some together with Tommy and Techno.” He thought aloud, glancing down. “Like old times, Back home.” He cleared his throat slightly before watching the lanterns rise higher, until the clouds covered the soft glow that had already been obstructed by trees. <br/>Wilbur sighed softly, smiling as he looked in the general direction of where the lanterns had gone. He paid no attention to the sound of Philza slowly standing up, only reacting when Phil gently tapped his shoulder. “You comin inside?” <br/>“Oh, yeah.” Wilbur stared at the sky a moment longer before slowly standing up, wincing as he did so and keeping his hand on his stomach still slightly hunched. Phil held one of his arms out, as well as his wing barely opened behind Wilbur in case anything happened. “I know you’ve slept about, fifteen hours in one night.” Phil started. “So if you can’t sleep, you don’t have to. Just don’t leave the general area of the house or make a mess.” He smiled, patting Wilbur’s back. “And if you wanna write, there should be a book and quill in one of the drawers.” Wilbur nodded, stepping inside as his dad opened the door. “Thanks Phil,” He smiled a little, glancing at the couch. Phil nodded, patting Wilbur’s back. “Don’t stay up too late, even if you aren’t tired, try to sleep at least a little.” <br/>“Got it,” He nodded once more, limping towards the couch and immediately dropping himself onto it was a pained groan, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes. "Take it easy, You still aren't a hundred percent healed up." Phil reminded him, resting his hand on his knee. “I want you to be strong enough to walk without toppling over or limping when you can go back. So don’t push yourself.” Wilbur had gone to object, but didn’t really have a comeback, and responded with a defeated sigh. “Yes dad,” Phil nodded and smiled, before yawning and standing up. “Don’t answer the door for anyone, and if someone does knock, come get me, got it?” He started towards the bedroom door, looking over his shoulder.<br/>“Yeah, yeah, I’m not ten anymore.” He said sarcastically, moving his hair away from his face. Phil laughed softly and nodded. “I know, I know. Goodnight.”<br/>“Night.”</p>
<p>Wilbur awoke to Techno frantically shoving him awake. “Wil! Wil wake up! Phil said we could go ride in the woods today!” <br/>Wilbur seemed a little confused, but the words soon registered and his face lit up, quickly reaching to grab his glasses from the nightstand.<br/>It was true, Phil had said when they turned 16 they were allowed to go ride their horses out in the woods by themselves.<br/>It was the day after their birthday and they were more than excited.<br/>Wilbur had sloppily thrown on his sweater and jeans, his shoes barely tied as him and his twin ran down the stairs in near unison. <br/>“Woahh, calm down you two.” Phil held his hand up, the other holding a mug carefully. “Eat a little before you do anything or you’ll just pass out.”<br/>Philza had pushed two plates towards them, waffles with berries and whipped cream. “And be quiet, Tommy and Tubbo are still sleeping, I don't want them up this early.” The two nodded, and began to eat quickly, Wilbur dropped his fork and knife, walking quite quickly towards the front door and grabbing his coat, sticking his tongue out at Techno as he slipped out the front door.<br/>"Not fair!" Techno complained, dropping his fork as well, leaving the half eaten waffle on the plate and chasing after Wilbur out the door.<br/>Wilbur was in the barn, hauling the saddle onto his horse Lucile, his guitar in a bag strapped to his back. Techno's shoes hit the concrete of the barn floor, pulling open the stall door as Wilbur hopped from a hay bale and into the saddle. "Hurry up! We don't have all day." Wilbur laughed, leaning forward slightly as the horse lifted it's hooves barely off the ground. Techno sighed, slipping the bridle onto his horse and pulling himself up. <br/>A moment later, the sound of hooves on dirt flew past the house and cow pasture. The twins were smiling as they cantered down the near overgrown trail. “Phil’s gonna kill us if he sees we didn’t bring helmets-“ Techno laughed softly, glancing over his shoulder quickly. <br/>“Psssh It’s fine, when have we ever gotten hurt?”<br/>Silence fell between the two before Wilbur spoke up again. “-Okay, when have you ever gotten hurt? Besides! We both know first aid.” Techno rolled his eyes, sighing with a smile before looking back to the road ahead. “Oh shit-”<br/>A large log sat in the road, barely leaving any space to go around it. Techno had quickly reacted by quickly moving his hands to move his horse to the side where there was little room for one horse, let alone two. Wilbur didn’t even try to move to the side, leaning forward some and collecting his reins, a determined smile on his face as he gently pushed his horse over the log, laughing when he landed, only to get lurched slightly forward as his horse kicked some, which made Techno nervous. “If you fall off, I’m not coming back for you.” He laughed, lurching forward again as his horse slightly bucked. Techno rolled his eyes as he continued to walk, dropping the reins and letting his horse walk carefully, looking forward for a moment, hearing a thud and looking behind him again to see a flash of black bolt past him.<br/>Wilbur laid on his back, staring at the sky and bursting out in laughter and standing up and shaking the dirt and leaves from his head. “Oh boy.” Techno shook his head, taking the reins back up and slowing his horse. “Get on.” He sighed. “Let’s get Lucile.” <br/>	Wilbur hoisted himself up onto the back of Techno’s horse, keeping himself stable as Techno quickly upped his horse into a gallop to chase after the escaped mare. Wilbur leaned to the side, shaking his head as his brother’s hair hit his face.<br/>The two caught up to the mare who was grazing on the side of the overgrown path, slipping off of Techno’s horse, he pulled himself back into the saddle and leaning forward and hugging his horse and burying his face into the mane. “You bitch.” He laughed.</p>
<p>Wilbur had tuned back into reality, He had zoned out, but he wasn’t sure for how long. There were no clocks on the wall, and he wasn’t as keen on reading the stars as he used to be. He stared at the ceiling, Thinking about when he used to sit under the stars with Tubbo and Tommy, and quiz them on what time it was based on the moon's positioning. He didn’t bother moving from the couch, He had probably overworked his muscles, which was more than definitely going to bite him in the ass later, So he just laid there motionless and thinking to himself.<br/>	It was true, He had barely slept while obsessing over his lost nation, but he was stupid. Phil was right. He truly was an idiot for blowing it all to dust, and trying to escape his consequences with suicide. He shivered, almost disgusted with his own actions. Pain truly was a wakeup call, and hearing how scared Tommy sounded even if he was barely conscious, It hurt. Tommy was his little brother, through thick and thin, no matter how damn annoying he was or had been in the past. Nobody deserved to see their family member in that state. He shivered at the thought again, closing his eyes and shaking his head quickly, though didn’t move. He had felt someone rested for the first time in months, and wasn’t obsessing over a lost cause of a nation. He had time to work on himself and his health, rather than keep Tommy out of trouble, and keep tabs on L’manburg. It felt good. Like a weight was lifted, breathing fresh air for the first time. He let out a soft sigh of relief, the realization flushing over himself as he sunk into the couch, running his hands down his face. Relaxation was nice, It felt like the warm hug from your dad after you scraped your knee, or a bedtime story on the night of your birthday. Even hot chocolate after playing in the snow on Christmas Day. He teared up even at the thought of it. He missed being 15 and playing in the front yard with Techno, and messing with the sheep and cows when it was too hot to ride their horses, and the late night carriage rides into town when Phil would have to get groceries for the next day. He missed everything down to the way rain would hit the roof in his room, and how he would have to sneak back into the house through a small window connected to the barn when he was out past curfew writing songs and poems in the woods. Even if he wasn’t writing, He was reading or singing. Singing songs to himself, or reading timeless poems like The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado. <br/>But, He wouldn’t dare try it now. Not with his current condition, the weather, or the wolves that always seemed to taunt him from the edge of the treeline. As much as he did miss it, there were moments he didn’t miss. Like when the playful and soft glow in Techno’s eyes had faded as the so called voices grew louder.<br/>While Wilbur didn’t have the voices, Both Techno and Philza did. Techno’s more demanding and aggressive then Phil’s. Coming down to moments where Techno had come close to injuring Tommy when sparring. It was obvious as he got older, it became easier to ignore and suppress them. But It was easy to tell when Techno had decided to take their advice, and fulfill what they desired most, Blood.<br/>	Voices were the least of his concern though. As far as he was aware, Techno had no intentions of listening to them as of recent, besides the withers. Reminiscing and relaxing was nice sometimes. Even if it meant remembering the bad, Including when Wilbur ran out in the middle of the night in mid January with nothing but his guitar, a backpack and horse, coming back the first week of February freezing cold, His guitar smashed and ruined. When he knocked on the door at midnight, snot and tears rolling down his face, his nose and cheeks red from the cold and his fingertips numb, He wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed and cry.<br/>	He remembered Phil staring at him in disbelief as tears obstructed his view, holding the shattered guitar up to his dad with the torn backpack over his shoulder, struggling to even utter a word as he just cried. And Phil didn’t hesitate to quickly hug his formerly missing son tightly, giving him comforting words and setting him on the couch with a comfortable blanket as he worked quickly to make hot chocolate and brush the dirt and snow off his hair and face. Telling him how everyone was so worried and scared, and how they put fliers all over town. <br/>Wilbur laughed sadly, a frown growing on his face. He wished he could’ve shown the same love to his own son. Fundy had hated his own father, going as far as to ‘disown’ him. He felt nothing but guilt. He had neglected his son, and had barely given the poor kid a childhood, let alone good memories. “I guess it wasn’t as easy as Phil made it look huh.” He muttered softly to himself. Second chances were out of the picture, well, he guessed they were at least. After everything that had happened, whenever Wilbur entered the room, Fundy’s mood would change and not for the better. Maybe if Sally was still around, things would be different. But she had long left sadly, and nobody knew where she had gone, Not even Wilbur. She had seemingly disappeared without a trace, not even a note. She could be dead for all they knew. He shook the thought though, He shouldn’t stay too hung up on her. She probably left for a reason, and she wasn’t obligated to tell anyone. He stayed silent a moment, Before reluctantly pushing himself to sit upright, leaning over to look at the table.<br/>	The book Phil mentioned wasn’t in the drawer, rather on top of the table, Which was a bit more convenient. He leaned just enough to grab the book and the pencil next to it, sighing and laying back as he opened it, thankful for the little moonlight that illuminated the pages. He stared down at the pages, silent for a moment, before beginning to recount the majority of his memories, From the moment he stepped foot on the grass claimed by the DreamSMP, to up until now. Where he laid recovering in a cabin in the woods. Only he knew his own story, right? Who else was supposed to tell it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is my first time writing ""fanfic"" i guess, if this does well/if people like it enough ill deffo update!<br/>this should be common sense but!<br/>-dont tell streamers about it (please.)<br/>-please dont remix it or reupload it anywhere! at all!<br/>-yes! you can draw scenes from it! if you do pls tag me on twitter!! i would love to see!! (vilbcr) is my twitter :3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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